As discussed in the previous blog posts, traveling to Walt Disney World is a marathon. It takes many hours of research, planning, and coordination to plan your dream vacation in the most magical (and one of the most complicated vacation spots) on Earth. Since there is so much to do in Walt Disney World, and only a limited time to do it all, many guests either miss out on trying the activities they were looking forward too as a result of trying to do everything. Most of the time, every single activity in Walt Disney World is not built for all different shapes, sizes, and interests of the variety of visiting parties that vacation there each year. Today, I will provide you all with an up close and personal look at my list of dos and don’ts to have the best time during your vacation at Walt Disney World!
Do – make a daily itinerary
Making plans for each day, even if it is a loose outline of certain events, is extremely helpful on a Walt Disney World vacation. With so much to do each day, and so many time and money-saving shortcuts, there is a lot of strategic planning to figure out before you start your trip!
My best advice is to first decide which park you would like to visit each day, especially so you and your party are able to obtain a park-pass reservation for the park of your choosing for that day. Although some may argue otherwise, I personally don’t think it matters what parks you start and end your trip with; my only advice is to choose what works best for you. Based on my experience, Animal Kingdom and Epcot take the least time to enjoy, while Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom are more of a full-day adventure. When I plan my days, I usually like to start my day early with Animal Kingdom (to skip the large crowds and see the animals before it gets too hot), Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios (both to rope-drop popular rides). For Animal Kingdom, I usually plan to park-hop in the afternoon/evening to parks like Epcot or Magic Kingdom where they are open late and have many activities to do.
It takes a lot of work to come up with even a loose itinerary, but my best advice is to experiment when creating one and mess around with park-hopping, different parks, and when is the best time to take a mid-day break (if you decide to take one). My itineraries take awhile to come up with for each trip, but it always pays off!
Don’t – skip visiting Disney Springs!
Disney Springs is the local outdoor shopping center located within Disney property, and accessible from Disney busses at all of the resorts and parks. I didn’t actually visit Disney Springs f0r a couple years, since I never seemed to be able to find the time to go. After my first visit, however, I am sure to squeeze in a trip during every Disney World vacation.
Disney Springs is comprised of a plethora of commercial stores, restaurants, Disney shops, and so much more. The infamous “World of Disney” store is located here, as well as other fan favorites such as Sephora, various Marvel and Star Wars themed stores, Amorette’s Patisserie, and so much more! My biggest advice is to come here for either a sit-down meal, my favorite is lunch, and then spend some time to wander around and explore the shops. For me, visiting Disney Springs is a great activity to explore on the day you arrive in the afternoon/evening time, or when you have the time for a large mid-day break in between visiting parks (for me, this is usually after visiting Animal Kingdom early in the morning, and not planning to visit another park until later in the evening).
Do – make dining reservations!
Dining is something that is highly coveted among Disney World park-goers. Even though the majority of sit-down restaurants have the option to join a walk-up waitlist, the waitlist can quickly fill up, and you can end up waiting hours for just to sit down for lunch! Guests can make dining reservations 90 days beforehand (for example: if you want to make a reservation for December 4, you can book it starting on September 4). My best advice is to find one or two sit-down restaurants in the parks, maybe explore an option at your resort or a new one, and lastly find a fun restaurant to try in Disney Springs.
Whenever I visit Walt Disney World, my family tends to order groceries and pack some lunches, try a couple mobile orders from quick-service locations, and maybe one or two sit-down meals. My best advice on this topic is to explore your options and consult your group, what works for my group might not work the best for yours!
Don’t – expect to do it all
This is a hard point to take in, especially since it costs so much to take a vacation to Disney World. There are so many options of activities to do, food to eat, rides to try, and so much more spread across all the Walt Disney World properties! There is so much to do, with so little time to do it, that it is virtually impossible to complete every single activity on your to-do list.
Whenever I visit and am unable to “do it all”, I remember all the things that I was able to do, and remember that there is always a next time (no matter how far in the future that “next time” may be). My advice: prioritize the top activities you want to try during vacation, plan ahead, and don’t stress if you aren’t able to do everything! It is a vacation after all, take some time to relax and enjoy it!
Do – make the most of those extra hours!
Each guest who stays at a Disney World resort are able to take advantage of early entry to the parks each day, and are able to stay late at certain parks on select evenings as a part of the “Extra Magic Hours” program. Arriving early (earlier than the beginning of the early entry period) allows you to get to the front of the line and ride many attractions before the general population of guests are allowed to enter and make the wait times longer and longer throughout the day.
The early entry program allows resort guests to enter the parks 30 minutes before their official opening, but Cast Members are known for letting resort guests in up to 45-60 minutes before park opening. I usually try to get to the park 45 minutes before opening, which after waiting in line to enter the park, allows my sister and I to ride 1-3 rides before the park officially opens (a deal for sure!).
Extra Magic Hours, however, are extremely varied. Disney schedules certain evenings each month where certain parks are open for a couple hours after their official closing time, but only for Disney World resort guests. During my last trip to Disney World, Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours one night; my sister and I took advantage of these by visiting the park later in the evening after taking an afternoon break, and staying almost until midnight to ride attractions without much of a wait!
If you aren’t a Disney World resort guest, I advise you to arrive about 20-30 minutes before park-opening to participate in “rope-dropping”, which means waiting behind the actual rope Cast Members hold to prevent guests from entering the park until the minute the park opens: when all chaos breaks free. This is the best way to ride the most popular attractions without the longest wait each morning, and allows you to have a nice break mid-day while the lines are the longest. I also advise staying late, and especially riding attractions during the fireworks; that is how I have been able to beat the lines during even the busiest times!
Don’t – forget to come prepared!
Making sure you are prepared to handle every Central-Florida circumstance is extremely important in Walt Disney World. You never know when it could start sporadically pouring, when a sudden heat wave could strike, or when you’re absolutely starving – but stuck in the middle of a two-hour line! While it is hard to prepare for every single situation, I have a couple of suggestions of what to pack in your park bag to make your days at Disney World a little less stressful.
Things to pack: a reusable water bottle (it’s important to stay hydrated in the heat!), a portable phone charger (you will be using your phone for everything: mobile ordering, wait times, show times, etc., it’s important to keep it charged), snacks that won’t melt (my favorites are applesauce pouches, bars, crackers/cookies, and trail mix), sunglasses/sunscreen/hats to protect against the sun, a rain jacket and/or umbrella, Minnie Ears (if you like to wear them in the parks), wallet/hotel card/magic-bands, and a light jacket if you are going out in the night-time or during a colder day.
Do – ride attractions at night!
Riding attractions at night is one of the best experiences I have had while visiting the parks for several reasons. Firstly, it is usually when the crowd levels in the parks start to die down, so you will usually see progressively shorter wait times for attractions as the night gets later. Secondly, in some parks you can see the fireworks while riding attractions at night (if you time it correctly!); this is a great opportunity to ride popular attractions with the lowest waits possible, while also experiencing a fireworks show from the ride! I personally love riding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom during the fireworks.
Thirdly, it is usually cooler at night; so if you are looking to take a break from the Florida sun, nighttime is the perfect time to visit the parks. The colorful lights that brighten certain monuments, attractions, and shops throughout the parks every night and beautiful as well, and perfect for pictures! Lastly, for Disney World Resort Hotel Guests, there are usually Extra Magic Hours at night on certain evenings in certain parks; this allows resort guests to ride all sorts of attractions with the minimum wait time during these nights, as only resort guests are allowed to attend these evening events.
Don’t – forget to take breaks!
Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget to take breaks each day! It is extremely important to give yourself and your party a designated time to take a break from walking in the hot, central-Florida sun each day. My best suggestion is to hit the parks in the early mornings and later in the evenings if possible, and to give yourself a break mid-day when both the crowd levels and temperature in the parks are at their highest points. You can cool off in the resort pool, take a nap, take a shower, sit down to eat at a restaurant, etc.; I recommend doing whatever you would like to have a good time and enjoy your vacation while giving yourself and your group a good couple of hours to relax and recharge. This may seem counterintuitive since you are spending so much money to visit Walt Disney World to begin with, so you want to make every hour of vacation count, but trust me: your group, feet, body, and legs will all be thanking you for taking a break on those late nights running from attraction to attraction to squeeze in as many rides as possible!
In conclusion … It is important to put in lots of preparation if you would like to have the smoothest Disney World vacation possible. Although reading about hotel rooms, food, rides, the different parks and events, money saving activities, and Disney dos and don’ts might feel like a waste of time, the hard work always pays off during vacation time! Overall, I hope that you were able to learn something that could help you during your next Disney World trip, and I cannot wait to share my Disney World experiences in my next post. Happy Halloween!
This post is super insightful for how to plan a balanced day! I like how you mentioned that there is no true way to “do it all” in one day. I think some people get too caught up in planning and making everything fit into one day, that they end up forgetting to enjoy the experience. I also think the setup of this post, and the subcategories, make it enjoyable to read and not too overwhelming.
I think something that I found to be super helpful in this blogpost was the fact that you never kept things general. You always had specific examples to provide readers to make this blog post their one stop shop. You cited specific things that people should purchase before they come as well as provided links for them to purchase such things. This post was very easy on the eyes and very well organized and incredibly reader friendly as I know where to go specifically for specific information about dining or how to efficiently schedule what rides to go on.
As a person who travels to Disney every year, I know how well-made this is. Surprisingly we do some things differently; my family and I don’t take breaks, and we end up exhausted, but it is 100% worthwhile. Also, I am not a shopping gal, so I wouldn’t say I like to go to Disney Springs since I feel like I’m wasting my time, but my family loves to go and to be honest, they have good places to eat. Apart from this, it is true that there is no way to make it all fit in one day. Anyway, I love that your blog is about Disney; it’s just a happy place, making it a happy blog! Have a great next semester and good luck with your finals!